Turkey honours 10-year-old journalist Janna Jihad with special Award

10-year-old journalist Janna Jihad conveys Palestine’s message given to the world

Janna Jihad, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl, who highlights her country’s problems via reporting on social media, has been honoured with award titled “brave heart journalist” in Turkey.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan awarded the prize to the young journalist during the International Benevolence Awards, organized by Turkey’s Diyanet Foundation, at the Halic Congress Center in Istanbul, Turkey on March 12, 2017.

“I was very proud that I have managed to deliver Palestine’s message to Turkey and the world,” a proud Janna said.

“Though I was happy that I won the award, I was sad that there are many children being killed [in Palestine],” she said.

The International Benevolence Awards are given by the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate with a view to making goodness dominant in the world.

Janna Jihad, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl from the Nabi Saleh village in the occupied West Bank, has been dubbed as the youngest journalist in the world after producing videos on Israeli checkpoints, anti-occupation marches and Israeli violence against Palestinians.

“I’m trying to send a message to the world that the Palestinian children are suffering from injustice,” Janna told Anadolu Agency (AA) in an interview.

“This land is named Palestine and its people are Palestinians, not terrorists,” she said.

Born in the United States, Janna reports in both Arabic and English and her Facebook page has around 250,000 followers.

“Children of Palestine are like other children around the world, who need education, health and their right to live as free people,” Janna said. “Every day, we see the blood of our relatives being shed at Israeli checkpoints and our friends being crushed while playing,” she said.

Janna cannot forget the death of her uncle and his friend in an attack by Israeli settlers on her village.
“We were in farmlands when we were attacked by the settlers,” she recalled. “Israeli soldiers also fired teargas canisters, which caused my grandmother to fall sick.”

The young journalist, who started documenting Israeli violations since she was seven, said Israeli restrictions were making their life harder.

She says she seeks to end the injustice done to Palestinian children in the occupied territories.

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